CARLSBAD -- The seemingly small things on defense added up for the Shorthorn 11 year olds, and Friday's state tournament opener against Albuquerque-Roadrunner soon got out of hand - resulting in a 16-8 loss at Bob Forrest Youth Sports Complex.

From a dropped ball in the outfield, in which catching it would've ended an inning, to overthrowing the ball to first base, those kinds of moments happened repeatedly.

Coach Matt Leroch said his players "tried too hard" to make plays on the field and overplayed the ball.

"It backfired on us," Leroch said. "We continually made errors and forced errors. We can't be throwing the ball around like that. It's just inexcusable. Half of those plays should never have happened. Those kids are better than that."

As much as Shorthorn kept fighting on the scoreboard for a while by scoring off a wild pitch or off-target throw, those little things on defense were too much to overcome.

Shorthorn third baseman Zacc Marquez said the number of miscues on defense and the frustrations with it "kept overflowing."

"We really wanted to get those outs. It made us kind of sad and depressed because we didn't get to go back and hit. We were mad at each other. Whenever it happened, we'd worry about each other," Marquez said. "It's really tough because we wanted to come start state off with a win, start our tournament off great."

Shorthorn will face the Albuquerque-Eastdale/South Valley loser in the consolation bracket at 11 a.m. Saturday.

The winner of that game will play in the consolation finals at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, vying for a spot in the championship game at 11 a.m. Sunday.

From now on, it's do-or-die for Shorthorn.

"We're going to have to pick each other up and not get down on each other, not yell at each other. We're going to have to just help each other out and make the right plays," Marquez said. "We want to stay in it."

Current-Argus Sports Editor Matt Hollinshead may be reached at 575-628-5518.